Mid-Term Break - Seamus Heaney On my first Sonne - Ben Jonson Which Ess

Mid-Term Break - Seamus Heaney On my first Sonne - Ben Jonson Which poem expresses the experience of grief best? On my first Sonne is a very direct way of expressing the grief that occurs when a child in the family dies. It is about the feelings that Ben Jonson goes through, and the poem describes his emotions and thoughts in detail. On the other hand, Mid-Term Break uses indirect ways to portray grief, by describing events that happen after the death. "Farewell, thou child". On my first Sonne openly addresses the deceased boy in the poem. The poem is to him, and about him. Ben Jonson uses faith to help him through the bereavement. Biblical phrases ("child of my right hand", "my sinne was" and "all his vowes") are scattered through the text. Jonson's thoughts are deeply Christian ("tho'wert lent to me" and "the state he should envie"). "O, could I loose all father, now." Here he candidly expresses his feelings by crying out to God. He speaks bluntly about the grief he is experiencing, and tries to reason with it as well by using Christianity concepts, "For why / Will man lament the state he should envie?". He curses himself for putting too much love and faith into the boy, almost believing in him too much ("my sinne was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy"). I think that On my first Sonne is a poem towards God and the deceased, but it is written for the comfort of Ben Jonson himself, to reassure him about his son's death. The poem is very emotional, and very involved. On my first Sonne uses a regular rhythm, with occasionally rhymes. This creates a profound effect, and this in emphasised in certain places, for example "and I thee pay / Exacted by fate, on the just day." The regularity of the rhy... ... time to think about his brother's death, and then approaches his brother alone. The phrase "wearing a poppy bruise" has overtones of death (poppies are associated with Remembrance day), but also the fact that he is "wearing" a bruise rather than having a bruise indicates that he is not normally in that state, and the poet does not see him as such. The rhythm works best in this poem in the final line, "a four foot box, a foot for every year". The slow pace stresses the tragedy of the event, and gives an insight into the mind of the poet, after he has had a chance to think about it. In conclusion, I believe that the poem Mid-Term Break the experience of grief better than On my first Sonne, because I prefer an indirect approach to the emotions surrounding bereavement. The style of writing and context make it more modern, and makes it seem more relevant.